Thane reeling from water cuts to 'save water for monsoons'

The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has started a once-a-week 24-hour water cut to prepare for low rainfall during monsoons. Starting from May 7, the TMC has saved about 1,368 million litres of water by cutting water once a week. The water cut is from Tuesday 9 am to Wednesday 9 am.

The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has imposed weekly water cuts forcing citizens to opt for tankers. They store water in drums and utensils to live through the workday

As much as 456 million litres of water per day is provided to about three-fourth of the 25-lakh-odd population in the Thane district. Apart from that, those residing in Pachpakadi near the TMC get water only from 6 am to 10 am.

Residents from this area end up using bore-well water and around five to six tankers are called for everyday to provide around 10,000 litres of water. The citizens have to procure water from tankers and store it in drums to see them through the daylong cut.

However, they claim that plenty of water is available, as many residents have gone on holidays. “We usually get less water and need to store as much as we can. Many a times, we see so many water pipes broken and the TMC is not ready to repair them,” Meena Tambe, a resident of Ramchandra Nagar 2, said.

“Water is not utilised in a planned manner. This is the main reason for water shortage in the city. We now have water because many residents have gone to their native places so we get sufficient water. But the condition is bad if everyone needs water at the same time.”

Another resident of Om Sai Apartment, Raj Manhotra, said, “In Thane and adjoining suburbs, water tankers are used to water the plants on the dividers. Crores are spent to water plants on these dividers which are anyway going to perish due to ill maintenance. This water can surely be used for saving lives of people rather than wasting on plants which don’t survive more than a year.”

The other side Girish Mehendale, deputy chief engineer of TMC, said, “We are carrying out a water cut because we need to save water. This will go on till monsoons. Only those areas that are on the outskirts of Thane are facing water problems. We are looking into it and will sort the problem as soon as possible.”

1,368 The amount of water in million litres saved by the TMC through the once-a-week water cut since May 7